COLUMBUS, Ohio – For rising senior Katya Duvall, the summer was an opportunity to gain valuable experience while working in the Ohio State Athletics Student Athlete Support Services Office (SASSO).
A two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and OSU Scholar-Athlete, Duvall participated in the Huntington Bucks Go Pro summer internship, an eight-week program that provides professional development for Ohio State student-athletes.
As an integrated Language Arts/English education major, Duvall knew that SASSO would be a good fit when planning for life after college.
“I wanted to intern in SASSO because it was closely linked to education,” Duvall said. “I want to be a teacher when I graduate and the professionals within this department all work with academics. In addition, many of them have had a background in teaching or education at one point in their career before working here.”
The Seal Beach, Calif. native had plenty to do during her internship and took advantage of every opportunity.
“I had numerous responsibilities in the SASSO office,” Duvall said. “My supervisor provided me with a list of projects to complete and help out on in different areas of SASSO. This included helping out during freshman orientation, creating a bulletin board of campus resources, helping with the Summer Bridge events and so much more. Since I want to go into education, I was able to meet with several of the SASSO employees who were once teachers to talk about their experiences as well.”
Opportunities like the Bucks Go Pro program is one of the many reasons Duvall chose Ohio State.
“As much as the athletics department wants to see you succeed in your sport, they also want you to be as prepared for your future career as possible,” said Duvall. “This summer gave me hands-on experience in a professional setting, which helped develop my professional skills. Bucks Go Pro was a huge step forward in my professional development.”
For Duvall, Ohio State has given her the chance to be successful on and off the field.
“Being a student-athlete at Ohio State is unique because you’re given so many opportunities to succeed,” Duvall said. “Bucks Go Pro is just one of the many opportunities that’s provided for us as athletes. Everyone around us wants us be successful. I am so thankful for being able to participate in Bucks Go Pro and feel it will help me so much going into my career in the future.”
